Target Recalls Kid’s Pillowfort Weighted Blankets After Two Deaths

Beloved department store Target has voluntarily recalled around 204,000 of its Children’s Pillowfort Weighted Blankets. The six-pound weighted blankets have been deemed a safety risk after it was discovered young children can become entrapped by unzipping and entering the blanket, posing a risk of death by asphyxiation.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a 4-year-old girl and a 6-year-old girl reportedly became entrapped in the cover of the weighted blanket and died due to asphyxia at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in April 2022. Target has received four reports of children becoming entrapped in these weighted blankets, including the two fatalities.

Each one of the Pillowfort Weighted Blankets feature a removable, waterproof, washable cover in eight different prints and colors. The product was sold exclusively at Target stores nationwide and online from December 2018 to September 2022.

Parents can check the recalled item numbers online at Target.com. For those with an affected blanket, Target asks parents to stop using the product immediately and call 800-440-0680 to receive a prepaid return label to return the blanket by mail or return it to any Target store. Consumers will receive a $40 refund in return.

This is not the first time weighted blankets have made the news. Earlier this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released an update to its Safe Sleep Guidelines for the first time since 2016. In the statement, the AAP states the importance of avoiding weighted objects of any kind (e.g., weighted blankets/sleepers/swaddles).

Parents can learn more about the latest updates to safe sleep guidelines here.

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